Find Telecommunication expertise in India

The telecommunication sector in India had experienced a period of significant growth towards the second decade in the 21st century. The growth of the sector has been encouraged by successive governments, who have opened up the marketplace to widespread competition. The mobile sector has experienced significant growth throughout the 21st century, and now eclipses the fixed line sector.

In 2006 the telecommunications sector in India contributed 2% towards GDP (Econstats) however given the developments in the sector that occurred during and after this period; this is likely to have noticeably increased. The total labour force employed by the telecommunications sector was 416,642 in 2001 (Econstats), once again given the developments in the sector since

One of the key players in the telecommunication sector of India is the state owned Mahanagar Telephone Nigam Limited (MTNL) which was created in 1986 by the government to expand and upgrade the quality of telecom services as well as introducing new services. MTNL is the main provider of fixed-line telecommunications in Delhi and Mumbai, as well as offering mobile services in Delhi. A prominent full telecommunication service provider is Reliance, offering complete packages in home phone, mobile phone, and internet services. Other internet service providers include Tata Teleservices, a subsidiary of Tata group, who offer mobile phone services, and Data Infosys Limited.

The process of liberalisation of the telecommunication sector in India began in 1991 with the announcement of the New Economic Policy. The manufacture of telecommunications equipment was delicensed in 1991, with radio, mobile and value added services becoming open to the private sector soon after. Following this, in 1994, the Indian government announced the National Telecom Policy which defined objectives including the availability of telephone on demand, and the delivery of services at reasonable prices, amongst others. The National Telecom Policy also announced a series of specific targets to be achieved by 1997.

Opening the telecommunications sector up to the private sector brought with it the need for an independent regulator of the industry. As a result the Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (TRAI) was established in 1997 by the Telecom Regulatory Authority of India Act.  TRAI serves to regulate telecommunications services in India, and is responsible, amongst other things, for monitoring tariffs for telecom services, a role which was previously carried out by central government.

In the first decade of the 21st century the Ministry of Human Resource Development publicised the need for the development of a National Policy on ICT in Education, after which, in 2007 the first workshop on “Policy Recommendations” was held during eINDIA 2007. The policy recommendations workshop provided the primary recommendations on the proposed National ICT policy. In 2013 had an enormous school system, comprised of approximately 1.2 million schools and 290 million students, there were 35 state boards and two central boards as well as multiple educational agencies involved in the education system (Government of India). The size of the education system has resulted in widespread interest in the National Policy on ICT in education from stakeholders wishing to assisting the government integrate ICTs in schools.

The World Economic Forum Global Competitiveness Report reported moderate numbers of mobile phone subscriptions in India compared to other developed countries. In 2014 there were 745 mobile telephone subscriptions for every 1000 people in the country. Fixed telephone landlines in the country are very low, with 21 fixed telephone lines per 1,000 people for the same year. Internet usage in India is moderate, with results for 2014 showing 180 internet users per 1,000 people.  Broadband internet subscriptions in the country are also moderate by world standards; there were 1.1 broadband internet subscriptions, and 4.9 mobile broadband subscriptions per 100 people in 2013. The international internet bandwidth speed in India is fairly low by world standards: in 2013 the average internet speed was 5.2 kilobytes per second per internet user, giving India a rating of 113 out of 148 countries included in the WEF Report (WEF).